The Ondo State Basic Education Board, SUBEB, has expressed concern that no fewer than 240,000 children in the state are out of school.
SUBEB Chairman in the state, Victor Olabimtan, who rasied the alarm in Akure, the State capital, on Tuesday, sought collective efforts from stakeholders to combat the menace.
According to him, the development was being influenced by the insecurity in the northern part of the country, which he said had fuelled migration to the south.
Olabimtan also stated that going by available data and statistics, the state is no longer the bedrock of education, emphasising that other states are now topping the chart.
The SUBEB Chairman, who reeled out efforts to arrest the situation, stated that the governor had approved the recruitment of teachers across the state.
According to him, Ondo State is among the only four states that had been able to access the grant from UBEC.
“Empirical statistics have repudiated the initial beliefs that out-of-school is only prevalent in the northern part of the country.
“Studies have shown it is a growing menace in this part of the world without leaving out our state.
“The truth is that every school-age child you see hawking or doing one menial activity on our roads and in doing menial of school going from 1 to 12 and not in school is an out-of-school child,” he said.